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The trend estimate for inventories increased by 0.6% in the March quarter 2006. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.7% following a similar rise in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for Manufacturing sales of goods and services decreased 0.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.2% this quarter, after a 0.9% fall in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for Wholesale trade's sales of goods and services increased 0.9% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.4% this quarter, following a similar increase in the previous quarter.

CURRENT PRICE ESTIMATES

The trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 0.8% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.1% this quarter after a 1.7% rise in the previous quarter.

The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.2% following a 2.2% increase in previous quarter.

NOTES

FORTHCOMING ISSUES

ISSUE (QUARTER)

Release Date

June 2006

4 September 2006

September 2006

4 December 2006

CHANGES IN THIS ISSUE

From this quarter state level standard errors will now be included in paragraph 8 of the Technical Notes.

COMPARISON BETWEEN COMPANY GROSS OPERATING PROFITS AND GROSS OPERATING SURPLUS

Price changes have had an impact on the value of inventories held by Australian businesses this quarter. An inventories valuation adjustment (IVA) is applied in the calculation of the gross operating surplus of private non-financial corporations (GOS) estimate in the Australian National Accounts. As prices for inventories have risen slightly in the March quarter, growth in GOS will be lower after the application of the IVA. The IVA for the March quarter is $1196m which is $161m higher than December quarter IVA of $1035m. No adjustment is made to the company gross operating profits (CGOP) estimate in this publication and, as a result, users should exercise caution when comparing the two series. It should also be noted that there are other differences between the two series. In particular, changes are made to GOS when annual benchmarks are applied and slightly different seasonal factors apply to the two series. Given this, while CGOP movements are an appropriate indicator for GOS, it is not the case that the two series will have equivalent seasonally adjusted movements from quarter to quarter.

REVISIONS IN THIS ISSUE

This quarter revisions back to September quarter 2001 have been applied to the sales estimates, and back to September quarter 2004 to the inventories estimates, for the Mining industry. The impact on the movement estimates is not significant.

INQUIRIES

For further information about these and related statistics, contact the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070 or Fiona Cotsell on Sydney (02) 9268 4241.

ANALYSIS BY INDUSTRY

FEATURED SERIES

The following graphs and commentary refer to seasonally adjusted and trend estimates of: sales of goods and services ('Sales') and inventories ('Inv.') in volume terms; and wages and salaries ('Wages') and company gross operating profits ('CGOP') in current price terms.

TOTAL ALL INDUSTRIES

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 0.8% this quarter. The rate of growth is at the lowest level since September quarter 2003. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.1% following growth of 1.7% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.2% with the growth rate lower than the previous five quarters.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for total inventories increased 0.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.7% this quarter, following a similar increase in the previous quarter.

MINING

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 5.7% this quarter, the growth rate slowing slightly following the strong growth of the past two years. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 6.1% following an increase of 8.3% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 3.7% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 8.0% following a rise of 3.9% in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services fell by 0.6% this quarter, the third consecutive quarterly fall. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.1%. The trend estimate for inventories increased 1.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2.1% following an increase of 3.9% in the previous quarter.

MANUFACTURING

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits decreased slightly this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.6% this quarter, following a fall of 1.9% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.4% this quarter, the growth rate dropping slightly compared to previous quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate was relatively flat this quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services decreased 0.4% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 0.2% this quarter, after a larger fall of 0.9% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for inventories decreased 1.1% this quarter, the eighth consecutive quarter of falls. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 1.4% this quarter, following a similar decrease in the December quarter 2005.

CONSTRUCTION

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits increased 1.7% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 1.3% this quarter following a 0.9% increase in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 3.2% this quarter, the growth rate slowing slightly compared to the previous three quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.0% following a 6.2% increase in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 0.8% this quarter following four consecutive quarters of growth.

WHOLESALE TRADE

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits was relatively flat this quarter, the growth rate falling following steady growth in the previous four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 1.7% following an increase of 2.7% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 2.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 3.0% after a 1.6% rise in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.9% this quarter, similar to the growth rates of the previous four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate rose 1.4%. The trend estimate for inventories increased 1.8% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2.4%, following a similar increase in the previous quarter.

RETAIL TRADE

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits fell 2.0% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased slightly this quarter after a fall of 8.4% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 0.8% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 1.0% this quarter, following increases in the previous two quarters.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services was relatively flat this quarter, similar to the previous quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate fell 0.4%. The trend estimate for inventories increased 0.9% this quarter and the seasonally adjusted estimate rose 0.7%.

TRANSPORT AND STORAGE

In current price terms, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits decreased 4.2% this quarter, the third consecutive quarter of falls. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.4% this quarter following a fall of 4.8% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 1.7% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2.8% following a 2.1% increase in the previous quarter.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.2% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 1.8% following two quarters of small decreases.

PROPERTY AND BUSINESS SERVICES

In current prices, the trend estimate for company gross operating profits fell 4.8% this quarter, the second consecutive quarterly fall. The seasonally adjusted estimate decreased 11.0% this quarter, following a smaller decrease of 1.7% in the previous quarter. The trend estimate for wages and salaries increased 2.1% this quarter, a similar growth rate to the previous four quarters. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 2.2%.

In volume terms, the trend estimate for sales of goods and services increased 0.6% this quarter. The seasonally adjusted estimate increased 0.3% following an increase of 2.2% in the previous quarter.